Lebanon County officials moved forward with a short-term residence project for transition-age youth, with tentative plans to begin using the new home on Sept. 1.
Lebanon County Commissioners awarded a contract to Community Services Group, known as CSG, to provide housing support case management services for the project. Lebanon County Mental Health/Intellectual Disability/Early Intervention and Housing and Redevelopment Authority officials are partnering to renovate a home on North 12 Street to house three individuals between the ages of 18 to 24.
Renovations to the home should be completed by Aug. 20, according to Holly Leahy, the Lebanon County MH/ID/EI administrator. Officials are planning to start using the home Sept. 1.
“Once housing support case manager, we can involve that person in the referral process, and then have them set to go into the home on Sept 1,” she said at the commissioners’ meeting Thursday, May 16.
The total cost of start-up expenses for CSG services will be $45,173. That would include covering costs until June 30.
Renters for the MH/ID/EI transitional-age youth home will stay between roughly 12 to 18 months, though officials said accommodations could be made depending on the situation.
The house will contain three locked bedrooms with individual bathrooms for renters. There will be a provider for housing support case management services in an office on the first floor.
In October 2022, Lebanon County MH/ID/EI was approved for $446,448 funds from the commonwealth’s Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services for a capital project.
“The plans were twofold,” Leahy said. “So simultaneously the Housing and Redevelopment Authority would recommend contractors and renovate the home located on N. 12 Street … While MH/ID/EI would procure a provider for the housing support case management services.”
The renovations to the home are estimated between $375,000 to $400,000, according to county officials. Leahy said that there has not been a consideration about who might need to live in the home.
Over 5,000 households are waitlisted for government-subsidized housing for up to 60 months, according to a recent study by the Lebanon County Coalition to End Homelessness.
Women of history
The Lebanon County Commission for Women and the Lebanon County Historical Society addressed county commissioners Thursday about the “Women’s History of Lebanon County” exhibit. The exhibit will feature individual women who have made an impact in healthcare, business and industry, and reform.
“The history of Lebanon County has been neglected, and it’s a rich history,” Barb Gaffney, co-chair of the LCHS Museum Committee said to commissioners. “The ladies that we will be profiling will be from the late-1700s through present day.”
The exhibit will include a diverse range of artifacts, and the Historical Society is looking for donations or loans of relevant historical materials. Those interested in contributing should contact the Historical Society for more information.
Organizers tentatively said that the exhibit will be open for public viewing from October 2024 to March 2025 and will be free of charge.
For more information about the Women in History exhibit, residents can contact the Lebanon County Historical Society directly at 717-272-1473 or [email protected].
Other business
Commissioners approved the resignation of Randy Leisure from the Lebanon County Conservation District board. Associate director Jim Tomanelli was appointed to fill out the rest of Leisure’s term as farm director through Dec. 31.
Officials also finalized the sale of the county’s 2000 Blue Bird Q-Bus 3705 for $2,325.22 to TJ Star Industries Inc., of Mt. Sinai, New York. The bus was used by the Lebanon County Area Agency on Aging to transport clients.
Matthew Toth is a reporter for the Lebanon Daily News. Reach him at [email protected] or on X at @DAMattToth.
This article originally appeared on Lebanon Daily News: Lebanon officials approve support staff for transition-age youth home
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